Tuesday, May 12, 2009

"What is this thing called Love"*:
Jim Styro's Meaning Of Life, Part Five

Twenty-five years ago (I don't feel really old until I say or write stuff like that)...
Twenty-five years ago, Don Henley sang:

Love's a little word that's been kicked around
Used too much, beaten down
What in the world are you thinking of?


I couldn't have said it better myself - so I didn't bother to try.

I been using that word - Love - quite a bit in recent posts; but I haven't been very specific about what I think the word means - other than to say that I think one of the important qualities of a person who loves is that they are more concerned with the happiness and well-being of others than themselves. But there's more to it than that.

Want to find out if you're a loving person? Then take...(drum roll please)

Jim Styro's Love Quiz

1. Are you patient? [Score no points for "No", 1 point for "Sometimes", 2 points for "Usually"]

2. Are you kind? [No=0, Sometimes=1, Usually=2]

3. Are you jealous? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, Never=2]

4. Are you conceited? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, Never=2]

5. Are you rude? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, Never=2]

6. Do you seek your own advantage? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, Never=2]

7. Do you take offense easily/frequently? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, No=2]

8. Do you store up grievances / have a long memory of wrongs done to you?
[Yes=0, Sometimes=1, No=2]

9. Do you do things you know are wrong easily/frequently? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, No=2]

10. Do you hide the truth from people? [Yes=0, Sometimes=1, No=2]

11. Will you overlook the shortcomings of others (Do you "cut them some slack")?
[No=0, Sometimes=1, Usually=2]

12. Are you trusting? [No=0, Sometimes=1, Usually=2]

13. Are you hopeful? [No=0, Sometimes=1, Usually=2]

14. Are you a "fair weather friend" - unable to endure difficulties when they arise?
[Yes=0, Sometimes=1, No=2]

Total up your points for all fourteen questions - and locate yourself on the rating scale below.

22 - 28 points = You're a Lover - not a fighter

15 - 21 points = You are well on the way to the Love Shack

8 - 14 points = You need to get on the Love Train and turn things around

0 - 7 points = I'm going to steer clear until you start behaving

OK - Cosmopolitan magazine probably won't hire me on the strength of this effort (especially since I completely ripped off Paul's Letter to the Corinthians** to make the quiz). But you get the idea.

Let's review:
If happiness is important, and
Most of us like having other people around, but
Having other people around can make being happy really complicated, then
Love may be what holds the whole thing together.

The results of this quiz should be pretty interesting. I'll show you mine, if you'll show me yours.


Take care.

* Title courtesy of the late, great Cole Porter
** I wonder if I can be consigned to eternal damnation for that? C'mon, you knew there was something familiar about the quiz, didn't you. Heck, most of the married persons reading this probably had the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians read at their wedding. Didn't think that would come back to haunt you, eh?

4 comments:

unmitigated me said...

Currently rating a 16. Just barely missed a ticket on the Turn-Around Love Train.

Jim Styro said...

MAW: That's one way to look at it. I say - put the pedal to the metal and get on up to the Love Shack.

To all readers:
I did not think it fair to provide a rating for myself on the Love Quiz (since I created it - with a lot of help from Paul of Tarsus) without input from a semi-objective third-party. I am indebted to my wife, the Middle-Aged Woman, for agreeing to provide a couple of comparison ratings. (I asked her to be harsh in her rating - she wasn't very harsh the first time, so she did it again.)

My rating: 23 points with a margin of error of +/- 1 point.

Anybody else willing to share their score? Anybody think it's a stupid quiz? Anybody think it's a great quiz?
Any abstentions?

ChurchPunkMom said...

I scored a 20. Fun quiz! :)

Jim Styro said...

CPM: Thanks for posting your score. See ya at the Love Shack.